A key focus of St Margaret’s latest strategic plan is further developing our careers and employability programs for students in Year 9 to 12 to nurture the necessary skills to participate, thrive and lead in a global economy.
To this end, the school recently held its third annual careers conference and expo for Year 10s. The conference is continually growing and aims to assist students to make informed decisions about their study and work options beyond school.
St Margaret’s Director of Careers and Portfolio Pathways Naomi Holley said the Broadening Horizons Conference exposes students to the world of careers education and prepares them to be excited about and well prepared for life beyond school.
“We want to model for students the variety of career pathways and opportunities by hearing from a range of experts, recent school leavers and tertiary institutions to raise their aspirations, broaden their horizons and highlight the changing nature of work and its impact on Australians,” Naomi said.
The conference is positioned within the Year 10 curriculum to intentionally inform students about future opportunities in preparation for their senior subject selection. It also supports the Careers Program which is designed to support and encourage students to engage in lifelong learning and make connections from the classroom to life.
As Abraham Lincoln once said: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” With this in mind, the conference intentionally exposes students to people in different career pathways so that students are able to picture the same kinds of possibilities for themselves.
Keynote speaker Cortnie Dawn from Her Future opened the full day conference with a presentation focused on the importance of establishing your passions and saying yes to trying new things. She encouraged the girls to experience a range of extracurricular activities at school. Cortnie also addressed the notion of failure stating it is only feedback. She said one of the secrets to success was failure, and we needed to think of it as just a learning curve.
St Margaret’s Old Girl and parent Kimberley Middelmis, Managing Partner of Adrians Group (a school partner), followed with a business advisory presentation.
Students then rotated through a number of sessions around the theme, So you’re interested in a career in…, hearing from presenters from a range of industries including mining and resources, construction, engineering, education, cybersecurity and digital trust, and law.
The day concluded with a Careers Expo where students could engage with tertiary organisations about available courses and career pathways. Representatives from the institutions answered questions and encouraged the girls to think broadly about their futures.
The Year 10 students appreciated the opportunity to gather information and knowledge that will place them in good stead for their futures.
Year 10 student Sienna Crockett said: “I found the Broadening Horizons Conference gave me a deeper understanding of what possible careers might suit my strengths, which really helped to narrow down my options for choosing senior subjects.
“The Careers Expo exhibits were really useful as I was able ask questions about the courses or the university and the representatives helped me see what I can do to get to where I want to go in the future. It also showcased the various opportunities and pathways I might be interested in and I found it useful to be able to ask what subjects would help with different pathways.
“The most important thing I was able to take away from this conference was that there are so many different options for careers based on the things that I enjoy,” Sienna said.
Sascha Hughes said: “Before the conference I had listed three possible careers for myself. I now feel that I have narrowed it down to what I would like to do after I leave school. The conference did open my mind up to other opportunities.”
Sasha Halliday said: “The conference provided me with so much information about subject selections for next year. We heard from many women in many different fields and learned their perspective on subject selection when they went through school. I also learnt about many careers that I may not have known existed otherwise such as cybersafety. Simply learning in more detail what each job is actually like and the different work environments has also helped me in considering my future career.”